


Freak Like Me

by JBK405



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Halestorm, The 100 (TV), the 1oo
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Concerts, Crossover, Dorothy - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Halestorm - Freeform, Lita Ford - Freeform, Performance at the Santander Arena April 1; 2016
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 20:52:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6440065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JBK405/pseuds/JBK405
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Krew and the Delinquents catch a concert one Friday night</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freak Like Me

Leaning around the corner of the hallway that ran to their bedroom, Asami fought a growing frown as she caught sight of Korra still half-buried in her closet. "Seriously, Korra? Jinora's on her way up, if you're not ready we're going to be late."

 

"Relax," Korra's muffled voice worked its way back to her. "I'm just looking for---AH! Got it! Just...gimme a sec...." Asami's small frown twitched at the edges and threatened to transform into a grin as Korra wriggled and twisted in her fight against whatever had her clothing trapped, then she practically leapt out of the closet with a bright blue t-shirt tightly clutched in her grasp. "Q'plah!" She shouted triumphantly as she waved the shirt over her head, then quickly snatched it back as Asami reached out to grab it.

 

"Yes, 'Q'plah!' and all that, now hurry up and put it on!" Asami scolded, still fighting to suppress her smile. "Jinora's gonna be here any minute and we need to **go**." A knock at the door underscored her words, and she quirked an eyebrow to Korra at the noise. "See?"

 

"Yeah, yeah," Korra mumbled, pulling her shirt over head as she spoke, "I'll finish up, go let her in." She just caught sight of the back of Asami's legs as she pulled her head up through the collar, then turned back to finish getting ready.

 

Shaking her head, but also finally letting her smile grow, Asami made her way back towards the front door of the apartment and pulled it open in the middle of the second round of knocks. "Hey Jinora, you're right on ti-- _ohmigod!_ " Asami did not--quite--jump in surprise, but it was a near thing.  Standing with her arms clutched in front of her and her eyes slightly downcast with mixed eager anticipation and fear, Jinora stood in Korra and Asami's doorway with hair that was so bright and blue and new that the dye still looked wet.  Quietly, almost sheepishly, came the question "Do you like it?"

 

"Oh, Jinora...it's beautiful."  Reaching out, Asami grabbed Jinora's shoulders and pulled her in tight against her chest and wrapped her arms around her.  "So beautiful.  But why didn't you talk to me first?  Not to brag, but I'm a fair hand with personal styling."

 

Jinora's eyes sparkled as she returned the hug in kind.  "I bought the dye last week spur-of-the-moment, but I wasn't even sure if I was going to go through with it.  Then once I decided to do it I thought I'd chicken out if I put it off at all or waited for anybody else, so....ta-da!"  She spun around, shaking her air out as she did.  "Charlotte walked me through it this morning before class."

 

"Well, it looks great," Asami said, then perked up at the sound of footsteps from back in the apartment, "And I'm sure Korra will think so, too."  Korra walked out of their bedroom a second later and almost froze mid-step as she caught sight of Jinora, but she recovered well and continued at the same pace with only the tiniest hitch in her movement to indicate her surprise.  "Hey, Jinora," she said, so deliberately casual that Jinora had to clamp her jaw shut on a burst of giggles, "Did you do something to your hair?"

 

"Oh, you know.  Just a little touch-up," Jinora tried to match Korra's urbanity, but could not quite keep it up under her gaze and broke into a nervous grin.  "Is it too much?"

 

"No, it's  **perfect**."  Korra's hug was not as tight as Asami's had been, but as she held Jinora close she leaned down and kissed the top of her head.  "However, I do believe we're about to be running late.  Asami?"

 

Asami's expression dropped as she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.  "Oh,  _crap_ , right.  We gotta go.  Is Kai coming here, or meeting us at the arena?"

 

"He said he'd meet us there, so I'm ready to go," Jinora said.  "You two all set?"  Asami looked over to Korra at Jinora's question, who made a show of looking down at her outfit and patting herself down, then grinned.  "Yeah, we're set, Mako and Bolin should already be at the show.  Let's go."

 

* * *

 

 

"I'm not asking you to let me bring it into the show or anything, I'm asking if you have can just hold it here until after the concert's over."  Mako's tone was filled with forced-calmness that was not doing a good job of concealing his frustration as he stood outside the front entrance to the Santander Arena.  "Don't you have a check-in box or anything like that?"

 

"I'm sorry sir, we don't, anything left up front is just going to be thrown out."  The staff member supervising the security entrance was calmer than Mako, but there was no yield to her at all.  "Either you leave your pocketknife outside or you can't enter."

 

"Look, I'm a campus security officer," he explained, bringing out his ID as he did.  "Isn't there anything you can do?"

 

"I can get my supervisor, but she's going to say the exact same thing.  Do you want me to call her?"  The question was honest, and her hand was reaching towards her radio, but Mako shook his head.

 

"No.  No, thank you.  I'll run back to my car.  Uh...I'm with him," Mako pointed towards Bolin, standing inside the arena and staring back at him through the metal detector in confusion.  "Can you wave him in this direction so that I can tell him I'll be back in a few minutes?"  The security staff eyeballed him, but then she turned and had another staff member bring Bolin back towards the entrance.  "What's going on Mako?" He asked.

 

"I've got to run back to the car, head on inside and find Opal," Mako explained.  "I'll be back in a few minutes."

 

"Why?  What's going on?"  Looking at the security staff watching them, Bolin whispered "Are you in trouble?"

 

"What?  No!" Mako had to force himself not to growl, and nodded towards the metal detector.  "I just need to leave my pocketknife in the car, I can't bring it inside."

 

"Oh...but wait, Mako, why did you bring your knife at all?  There's all these signs saying that they don't allow any knives inside.  And you knew there was going to be security.  In fact, don't  **you** do these checks on campus?"  Bolin's expression had grown sly as he continued, enjoying Mako's discomfiture.  "So shouldn't you have known better?"

 

Sighing, Mako nodded his agreement.  "Yes, I should have known better, I wasn't thinking.  Just...just go find Opal and the others and see what it's like inside, okay?  I'll be back in a few minutes."

 

"Okay, see ya bro."  Bolin grinned, then turned around and walked further into the arena.  Grumbling under his breath, Mako turned back to the street and tried to pick his way back to where he had parked.

 

* * *

 

 

"So, to be honest I don't know anything about Dorothy, but we're getting Halestorm  **and** Lita Ford in one evening.  I don't care if Dorothy's complete crap, this is going to  **rock**."  Lexa was almost shouting in Clarke's ear as they worked their way through the crowd towards the floor in front of the stage, and normally Clarke would have tried to tamp down her enthusiasm, but with the rising rumble of the crowd filling up the arena her unintentional-screaming was actually necessary.  "Seriously, I swear to god, I might just go into overload when Lzzy comes on stage."

 

"Lexa, a year ago you hadn't even  **heard** of Halestorm.  It's not like they're you're childhood band."  Clarke tried to sound suppressing, as they had had this conversation many times before and Lexa's near-obsession with Halestorm had occupied practically their every waking moment since she had bought the tickets a week ago, but Lexa's energy was infectious and Clarke found herself unwillingly grinning anyway.

 

"Yeah, well, that was then.  This is now, and now I'm ready to rock!" Lexa raised her right arm above her head and held her index and pinky fingers upright, making the sign of the horns.

 

Laughing, Clarke reached up and grabbed her arm, pulling it back down and intertwining her fingers with Lexa's.  "Okay, we'll rock, but at least wait for the show to actually start.  I don't want you to wear yourself out and have to carry you home."

 

"Deal," Lexa said, then raised Clarke's hand and kissed the back of her hand.  "Oh, there's Octavia and Lincoln!"  With her other hand she waved at the couple she picked out of the crowd, then her brow furrowed as she saw them talking to a young woman she did not know, but who looked vaguely familiar.  "Who are they with?"

 

"Hmmmm?"  Craning her neck, Clarke followed Lexa's wave through the crowded floor.  "Oh, that's Opal, she's in my poli-sci class.  We worked together on that presentation in the beginning of the semester, you probably bumped into her then.  I had no idea she knew Lincoln or Octavia.  Come on, let's go say 'hi'."  The two of them plowed their way through the crowd, which was surprisingly easy as most of the people stepped out of their way with a courteous 'excuse me', and had almost reached the threesome when a man whom neither of them knew rushed up and picked Opal off the ground from behind in a massive bearhug as he shouted her name.

 

"Ah, Bolin, put me down!  Down Bolin!"  Opal was laughing as she spoke, shaking in Bolin's grasp as he lowered her to the ground, and she spun around and kissed him quickly on the cheeks.  "Where have you been?  I expected you fifteen minutes ago."

 

"Sorry," he said, "We got held up at security."

 

"What do you mean?  Couldn't Mako..." Glancing around, Opal seemed to be looking for somebody before turning back to Bolin.  "...wait, where's Mako?"

 

"He was the problem," Bolin said, obviously doing his best not to smirk.  "They wouldn't let him come inside because he forgot to leave his pocketknife at home, he's heading back to the car to leave it there."

 

"Oh, for crying out loud.  You two..."  Shaking her head, Opal turned from Bolin back to Lincoln and Octavia.  "Guys, this is my boyfriend, Bolin, and his brother Mako is on his way.  Bolin, this is Lincoln and Octavia."

 

Bolin practically lunged forward and enveloped Octavia in a bearhug just as he had done with Opal before, and from where she was approaching Clarke could see both her and Lincoln's faces flush as they opened their mouths to object, but then Bolin released her and turned to Lincoln, enveloping  _him_ in the same grip.  "It's so nice to meet you, any friends of Opal's are friends of mine."  Lincoln's expression had now turned to confusion, and he awkwardly patted Bolin's arms until released.

 

"Uh...thanks," Lincoln said, sharing a glance with Octavia, "It's nice to meet you, too.  Oh, hey, here's Clarke and Lexa!"  Patently relieved to bring somebody else into the conversation, Lincoln waved them into their circle.  "Opal, Bolin, this is my cousin Lexa and her girlfriend Clarke.  Clarke, this is Opal and Bolin."  Even having just seen it three times, Clarke and Lexa were both caught off guard by the enthusiasm of Bolin's greeting, but they grinned through it and smoothed into the conversation grouping afterwards.

 

"So, you guys like Halestorm?" Octavia asked.

 

* * *

 

 

"You  _promise_ you're not going to tell my dad until I've had a chance to break it to him?" Jinora's tone was almost pleading as they walked away from the merchandise table (Jinora carrying a t-shirt, Korra and Asami sharing a CD collection, and Kai with both).

 

"Yes, I promise I won't tell Tenzin that I took you to a corrupting rock and roll concert," Korra reassured her.  "If he asks I'll tell him about the Reading Symphony instead."

 

"'Reading symphony'?" Kai asked in disbelief, "You can't do any better than that?  Why not something that's actually happening?"

 

"Listen you," Korra growled as she raised her hand in a mock-slap that sent Kai scurrying and laughing, "First of all, Tenzin's not actually going to ask me anything; he's a worried and concerned father, but he doesn't spy on his own kids.  Secondly, Reading Symphony is an orchestra that's performing tomorrow night, so it  **is** 'a thing that is actually happening'."  Korra smirked at Kai so hard that she all but stuck her tongue out at him.

 

"Besides, I think you're worrying over nothing, Jinora," Asami chimed in.  "Your dad probably had a poster of Lita Ford on his wall when he was a kid, when he finds out he's going to be _jealous_ you got see her live.  Trust me."

 

"Probably," Jinora agreed, "But...let me be the one to make him jealous, okay?"

 

"You got it," Asami said, then the four of them walked through the Gate 106 entrance and out into the main arena, already holding a good-sized croud of people milling about.  She spotted Bolin and Opal almost instantly, and pointed them out to  Korra.  "There's Bolin and Opal.  Who's that...oh, it looks like Clarke and Lexa are here, too."

 

"Hmmmm?  Who's here....oh."  Korra almost visibly deflated when she realized who it was that Bolin and Opal were speaking to.  Asami quirked an eyebrow at her, "Seriously, Korra?  We're graduating in a month and you're  _still_ butting heads with Lexa?  Do we need to have the 'You have friction because of how similar you are' conversation again?"

 

"What?  No, no that's not it," Korra shook her head. "Me and Lexa worked all that out a few months back.  I've just been thinking  _about_ graduation; once we're gone those two are going to wind up running the place, and I don't like the thought of being replaced.  Everybody's going to migrate right over from us to them, in a year or two there won't be anybody who remembers us at all."

 

"Jeeze, Korra, they're not going to try and take over our lives, they just joined a few of the same clubs we did, and not even all of them.  They've got their own friends, and so do we, they're not stealing anything.  Besides, we're  **graduating** in a month.  We get to go out into the Big Wide World--and probably deal with all the shit going on out in that Big Wide World--we can't stay here forever.  I, for one, am happy that we can safely leave Penn State Berks in such capable hands.  Plus, now we know that they've got good taste in music."  Korra chucked at Asami's final line, and shrugged her acquiescence.  "Come on, let's go say 'hi'."

 

Working their way through the crowd, the four of them approached Bolin and Opal, and the group they were talking to.

 

* * *

 

 

"Oh my god, Jinora, that is  **awesome**!" Bolin swept her off her feet as soon as he caught sight of her new hair color, and Jinora barely had time to yelp before she was swung about.

 

"So, does he do that with  _everyone_?" Octavia asked as the group settled out with the new arrivals.  "What if he meets somebody who weighs three hundred pounds?"

 

"It depends on the situation, really," Opal explained, her cheeks heating as she watched Bolin rub Jinora's hair between his fingers.  "If I said that the three hundred pound guy was a childhood friend and I wanted them to be close...yeah, he might give it a try."  She stepped forward herself and pulled Jinora into a more reasonable embrace when Bolin released her, then shared a quick hug with Korra and Asami both.

 

"Good to know, I'll mark that down for future reference," Octavia said, then turned to Korra and Asami as they separated from Opal.  "Hi, I'm Octavia, this is Lincoln.  Korra and Asami, right?"

 

"That's us," Asami said, taking Octavia's hand.

 

"I saw you both in the tournament last month, I'm planning to try out for the competitive Judo team in the fall."

 

"Well, Lexa should be captain by then, so I'd say you've got a good inside track," Korra said, and extended her hand to Lexa and Clarke.

 

"Yeah, happy coincidence for me," Lexa nodded.  "I brought Lincoln with me to one of Clarke's parties last year and I got a new recruit the same time that he got a girlfriend.  Win-win all around, I'd say."

 

"Hey, where's Mako?" Kai suddenly asked, and Asami, Korra and Jinora looked around after he spoke.

 

"Oh, Mako's....on his way," Bolin muttered, then chuckled at the looks he got.  "He should be here in a few minutes."

 

"He better hurry up," Korra said, "They're about to start."

 

"I doubt he'll be too broken up about missing Dorothy," Lexa said, "The opener's never something to get worked up over."

 

"Hey, have you even listened to anything by Dorothy?" Lincoln asked, looking affronted at Lexa's remark.  "They're up-and-coming."

 

"They can up-and-come all they want," Asami retorted, "I'm here for Halestorm and Lita Ford.  That is everything I could ask for, we've got the beginning and we've got the peak on stage one after the other."

 

" **Thank** you," Lexa almost shouted.  "We wouldn't have rock 'n' roll today if it wasn't for The Runaways, and if we didn't have Halestorm it almost wouldn't be  _worth_ having rock 'n' roll."

 

"Absolutely.  My life changed when I first heard  _The Strange Case Of..._ " Asami was shouting almost as loudly as Lexa was in her excitement.  "I was thrashing to 'Love Bites' before I even knew their name."

 

"I came in late, I didn't discover them until  _Into the Wildlife_ , but they hit the ground  _running_.  I still tear up every time I hear 'Dear Daughter'."  As Lexa spoke, musicians began clambering up onto the stage and the crowd began shifting and rotating, but she and Asami did not even seem to notice in their enthusiasm.  Slightly behind them, Clarke and Korra exchanged knowing looks with each other and each took an arm and steered them towards the front of the arena.  "Come on babe, we're ready to go," Korra said as she saw Clarke speak something similar to Lexa, and then their entire group clumped forward and tried to get as close as they could.

 

The music started a few minutes later.

**Author's Note:**

> I went to this concert last night, and it was a transcendental experience. Truly, I was blown away, it rocked my world in every way music can, and I needed to write something to commemorate the experience. I haven't updated either of my two ongoing fics for a few weeks so I thought I'd at least dabble in each universe, and then I thought "Why not bring them together?".
> 
> And yes, I did have to go back to my car to leave my pocketknife behind. This was after I got lost walking from my car to the arena in the first place, so I slow-ran close to a mile all told, but it was worth it for this show. After the concert itself I'm aching in my entire body (Ankles, shins, knees, back and neck. I'm too @#$%ing old for this) and I've got tickets to do it again in a few weeks because it rocked **that hard**.
> 
> The opening act, Dorothy, was good considering I didn't know them previously. None of that emotional connection that comes from seeing a favorite band live (Since, as I said, I don't know them), but they've definitely got talent, especially compared to some truly awful openers that have come and gone. I look forward to digging into their work.
> 
> Lita Ford started rough but pulled it out to an amazing performance. She truly deserves a place in the pantheon of rock, especially given her history with The Runaways.
> 
> Halestorm knocked it out of the park like you would not believe. Everything was perfect, one of the best (If not _the_ best) concert experiences of my life.


End file.
